Stubborn Love
by nicholex
Summary: Elena Gilbert left her old life behind to pursue a new one six years ago. She had everything; a boyfriend, a child, and wanted everything to be perfect. But now, after all these years, she has returned to Mystic Falls to get her daughter back. In the midst of an ongoing custody battle, will Elena and Damon rekindle their relationship or will they be stuck hating each other forever?
1. Prologue

_**Writer's Note: Hello, one and all! This is a new Delena story I came up with a week ago or so and have decided to finally publish it for you guys, the public, to read. I hope you all enjoy it. I would also love to hear what you guys think so don't hesitate to leave a review.**_

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_**Prologue**_

_"And I don't blame you dear for running like you did all these years_

_I would do the same, you'd best believe_

_And the highway signs say we're close but I don't read those things anymore_

_I never trusted my own eyes..."_

The world moved slightly as the girl sat up in bed. Her nightmares seemed to always get the best of her every night. She sighed, feeling a small nudge of an elbow from beside her. It was her boyfriend laying there. His whole body moved in his deep slumber, his dark black hair falling in front of his eyes and the 5 o'clock shadow grazing his pillow. He let out a small groan between clamped lips. She laughed lightly and proceeded to escape from underneath the black silk sheets. Very carefully, without making a peep, she stepped onto the hardwood floors and walked to his joined bathroom. There was a wall length mirror with two sinks, a huge bathtub, and a shower inside. The stone tile was cold on her feet as she made her way to the first sink. The counter was covered with a white marble top and metallic faucets coming up from beneath them. She grasped it and pulled the hot water on the left in a counterclockwise motion. The water was hot against her skin as she wiped her face down. It was the only way to cure the memory of the things she dreamed about only minutes later – at least in her mind it was.

Her reflection stared back at her after she dried her heart shaped face off with a plush towel. Her brown hair was plastered to her face and the bags under her doe eyes hinted of little sleep. Being a sixteen year old girl with a child and boyfriend was hard, especially if she was kicked out of her own home only weeks ago. This made her suffer from mild insomnia and headaches. She moved her head only to feel a ting of pain in her head. _Speaking of headaches, _she thought before stepping back from the mirror. Licking her lips, she padded back to the bed to see her boyfriend now in a different position under the covers. A smile ghosted her features before a sharp scream rang out amongst the house.

It was her six month old daughter Alexandria. She was a burst of joy during the day, but at night was like a police siren that went off every single hour. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, she took notice that it was two in the morning. She grabbed her robe and tied it around her waist. The walk to her daughter's room wasn't that long. It was three doors down from their own room, and the light was on from underneath the door. That gave her the impression that someone decided to help out.

After opening the door, there was a middle-aged woman with Alexandria in her arms. Sitting there in the middle of the bright purple room on the rocking chair settled in the corner near the crib.

"Elena," she said, kicking the floor from underneath the floor. Her slippers made barely any noise except for a light shuffling sound.

"Elizabeth," Elena spoke with her eyes on her daughter. "Did she wake you?"

"Actually, the complete opposite, I was already awake at least an hour ago."

_Probably drowning pharmaceuticals with booze, _Elena nodded, wrapping her arms around her small frame. The room was decorated in white furniture. The crib was made of the most expensive wood from Italy just like the dresser and toy chest scattered around the room. It was an upside that Elena was with a boy from a rich family in Mystic Falls. That wasn't why she was with him though. She was in love with him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Although, there was a small voice in the back of her mind that sometimes made her doubt her choices.

"So, did she wake you?" Elizabeth asked after watching Elena for a moment.

"Oh, no…I woke up a little bit ago and…" Elena couldn't finish her sentence and replaced it with a forced smile. She didn't like Elizabeth at all. Usually because there was always a fake, million watt smile always pointing in her direction from the woman. Giuseppe, on the other hand, loved Elena. He was Damon, her boyfriend's, father. He was an intimidating man and it surprised Elena when he allowed her to stay with Damon, but only until they were both eighteen and could afford a proper place to start their lives together. Elizabeth would always throw suggestions into the wind revolving around Elena's leave. It wasn't going to happen, at least not any time soon.

Elizabeth clicked her tongue, "I see." She glanced down at Alexandria and stood up with the baby still in her arms. "I think you and I need to have a talk." She placed Alexa into her crib while Elena stared at her with confusion in her eyes.

"About?"

"Things," was the only word that escaped her lips as she motioned for Elena to back out of the room and close the door behind them. "Come, now." Elena followed suit down the stairs and into the parlor. The fireplace was still burning, casting an orange glow onto their skin as they both took seat on opposite couches across from each other. "We need to talk about your priorities, Elena; your plans, your funding, everything."

"Now? At three in the morning?" Elena scoffed with a light laugh, but put it away when Elizabeth sent a glare her way. She coughed awkwardly. "Priorities? I haven't thought about any."

"My point exactly," Elizabeth smiled, again, fake. "You see, you have no plans, Elena. You had a child a few months ago that was never planned, you are flunking your classes and you didn't see either of those things coming. When I was a little over fifteen, I managed to get myself money and a scholarship to Harvard. You don't have any life goals as of right now, and if I were you, I'd…"

Elena raised a brow, waiting for her to finish.

"Run…run from it all."

Elena blinked a few times before regaining sight on what she was actually saying. "W-What?"

"Elena, you and I both know that all you're going to do is bring down my son in the long run. You are incapable of caring for a child and upholding your relationship with Damon along with your studies. It's only a matter of time before he moves onto the next one after getting bored with you," Elizabeth said.

Damon was known to be a huge player in Mystic Falls. Every week you could always spot Damon with his tongue down a different girl's throat. Elena was once a naïve girl that frowned upon that sort of thing until he roped her in and she fell in love with him. Her friends warned her, however, about what she was doing, but she couldn't leave him. He was compelling in every way. From his leather jacket to those bright blue eyes that made her melt with each touch he applied to her skin. Damon changed after that and no longer toyed with girls. He was stuck with Elena for once and for all.

At least that's what Elena hopes.

"Damon wouldn't do that," Elena shook her head.

"You're denying it when it reality you know that it's true."

Elena felt tears well up behind her eyes as she blinked them away. "You're lying. Damon would never leave me especially when we have Alexandria."

Elizabeth stayed quiet for a beat too long. "I'm willing to pay you to pack up your things and leave Mystic Falls by tomorrow afternoon," her tone was soft, ending in a long sigh. "75,000 dollars will be in your hand by tomorrow morning if you leave earlier than that. It will pay for your living arrangements, college funds, and the essentials."

The girl couldn't believe what she was saying. Elizabeth was going as far as to _pay _for her to leave. The devil on her shoulder told Elena to do it – take the money and run. But the angel on her other was telling her to refuse it.

"No…no, I won't do it," Elena said a little too loudly. "I can't leave my baby girl…I…" Her voice cracked as realization hit her. She had dreams before all of this was weighed in on her shoulders. Being a writer was in her best interests, she wanted it. With the money she could become successful within a few years. It was only a matter of time.

"Don't get yourself worked up over this, Elena. I've taken care of two teenage boys and I think I can help Damon out with Alex if you leave without a word. Giuseppe, Damon, Stefan, and I will make sure your daughter gets what she needs in life," Elizabeth spoke in a prim and proper airiness to her voice. "You have nothing to worry about. You can go off and forget about everything – start anew in a new city and with new dreams."

Elizabeth was very manipulative. Elena got that much from her over the years. She had a way with words and managed to get under everybody's skin. As if hearing her own thoughts, Elena looked up from the floor at the older woman. She was now standing with a glass of scotch in her hand, one hand on her hip. Her barely noticeable wrinkles creased as she smiled. She knew Elena's answer.

"Well, then. I'll get my checkbook out and we'll talk about this in a few hours." Elizabeth set the glass onto the mini bar before returning to Elena. She placed her manicured hands onto the younger one's shoulders. "This is for the best."

_For the best…_

Elena gasped, waking up in the same bed she did only hours before. She looked around and saw that Damon was nowhere in sight. He must have run down to the Grill before school. Elena looked at the clock and noticed it was only an hour until she had to be there herself. As she moved her eyes back to the blankets, she took notice of the travel bags sitting by the doorway. A silent cry escaped her lips.

It was her choice after all. She made it and it was too late to back down now. All the memories of her child and Damon filled her mind as she slowly slipped out of bed. The bags were neatly together in a pile in the corner, each one with a tag written 'Elena Gilbert' across them. Her fingers grazed them before she got dressed into something much more comfortable than just her bra and panties. In the next few minutes Elena was dressed head to toe in skinny jeans, a t-shirt, converse, and her hair in a high ponytail on her head.

Elena thought twice before grabbing the handles of each bag, swinging one over her shoulder and beginning her journey down the hall. A little cry sounded from her daughter's room as she passed it. The wooden door was cracked open a bit which caused Elena to peek inside. There, laying in her crib wrapped in a small little blanket, was her beautiful baby girl. A tear slipped from Elena's eyes as she pushed the door open a bit more. Alexandria's blue eyes focused on Elena and she began sucking on her thumb with her eyes widening with such wonder and potential that Elena once saw in herself before.

Scenarios of a family flashed within her. She still had a chance to stay, but as she pushed herself away from the door, she shook the thoughts from her mind. Elena had to think of her future, and it wasn't going to involve a family for a while.

"There you are," Elizabeth sang as Elena emerged down the stairs looking flustered and a bit on edge. "I was beginning to think you backed out."

"Just…give me the money," the way Elena said it made her seem selfish, but she was the complete opposite.

"Hold on," Elizabeth said. She rushed away before returning with a paper in her hand and a pen. "You have to first sign this contract."

"How did you get one so fast?" Elena asked.

"That's not the point, Elena. Just sign it and we'll be good to go." The lady handed her both pen and paper with her eyes filled with eagerness, but the smile on her face didn't reach her eyes.

Elena hesitated. Was this really what she wanted to do? It was a question with a million answers along with reasons. No, it wasn't what she wanted to do; it's what she _needed _to do. With this in mind, the paper was signed in minutes and Elena was standing out of the Salvatore Boarding house with her bags by her side. The car was parked only a foot or two away. Her breathing hitched as she felt someone run towards her. Damon was in her face, demanding an explanation.

Elena shook her head at his accusations; he was pulling her bags from her hands and forcing her to come back inside. She pushed him away screaming his name as he screamed back. Elizabeth had to be watching because goose bumps rose upon Elena's skin as they continued their argument. The world froze the minute his cell phone rang. He looked down at it before quickly putting it away.

"Who was that?" Elena asked.

"Nobody," Damon said.

"Who was it, Damon?" Elena's voice was more forceful this time.

"I think you should tell her, Damon." Elizabeth walked up beside them with a calm voice. You could never really find the woman ever in an outraged state. She did everything with a peacefully calm serenity filled atmosphere surrounding her.

"Tell me what?"

Damon sighed before putting his hands into his pockets. "I…I've been seeing someone-"

Elena stopped him there as she circled him to get to the car. He turned to grab her, but she screamed, "No, Damon! You made me believe you were in love with me! When all you did was use me…you never loved me!"

"That's not true!"

"Oh, really? Then prove it to me! Prove to me that you can better yourself and become a faithful boyfriend for our daughter's sake!" Elena yelled. She wasn't expecting this.

Damon stayed quiet which gave her the impression he was really done with her. She glanced at Elizabeth over his shoulder with a knowing look in her eyes. _It's only a matter of time before he moves onto the next one; _those words that were said by Elizabeth took Elena aback. She knew this whole time that he was cheating on Elena, and she didn't say one thing and told him to come back at that very moment to witness her flee.

Tears rolled down Elena's face as she threw her bags into the trunk. Damon tried to pull her into a comforting hug that was anything but that. She wanted to break down and smash everything in her path. Elena was a fool to believe that _the _Damon Salvatore would ever stay with her without having others in his bed every time she left. They had a daughter and that didn't keep him from playing around with others.

"Elena, if you just listen to me-"

"Listen to what?" Elena screamed, turning around to face him. "That you were having sex with every girl in Mystic Falls? Who was it? Andie, Rose, Bonnie, Caroline - maybe even my own sister Katherine? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Damon had his eyes rimmed with water. Elena didn't take it though. He screwed it up, but now she had a real reason to leave town. She was going to leave her life behind and wasn't going to get caught up in all the drama if she did stay.

"Goodbye, Damon," Elena said after getting into the car and rolling the window down. "I hope you have a nice life, because right now, it's looking like total shit right now." She put the keys into the ignition and flew down the driveway onto the road. From the mirror, she could see Damon standing there with Elizabeth by his side, ushering him inside the house.

It was now or never, and she planned on never – _ever _– coming back to Mystic Falls.


	2. Chapter 1: Bad News, Gilbert

_**Chapter 1: Bad News, Gilbert**_

The restaurant was bustling with people as it turned from 5:59 to 6:00. Everyone's major priority in life was to get a cup of some delicious coffee. Elena stood there in her company branded t-shirt and apron with a coffeepot in hand. She didn't understand what the fascination was with it. She was more of a tea person, if she were to choose one or the other, and cringed at the thought of drinking something bitter every morning. _I guess I'll just learn it when I'm older. _

Her brow furrowed as she saw someone walk through the door with black hair and blue eyes. As they rounded the corner, Elena let out a sigh in relief. It wasn't _him_. If it was, Elena wouldn't know what to do with herself.

"Someone looks a bit," they stopped talking the moment Elena jumped as a reflex, spilling some of the coffee onto the floor, "surprised."

Elena gritted her teeth and turned around to face her friend Jesse. He was tall with dark olive skin and brown eyes. He was her first friend upon her arrival in New Orleans along with Hayley Marshall. They were pretty much the three musketeers in Elena's eyes. With her hand on the pot of coffee, she crouched down with a towel she had gotten out of her black apron and began cleaning it up while ignoring every single thing Jesse was blabbing about.

"You know, it's polite to actually listen to a person," Jesse chided playfully as he watched Elena get up to go behind the bar.

She rolled her eyes, feeling her coworker elbow her as she walked by her, and gave Jesse a look. "You don't think I know that? I've just been…thinking about things lately. With spring break coming up and all these projects that are due…"

"Maybe you should take a break from everything? Get some time off and come with Hayley and me out to Georgia. I hear there's this great bar there called 'Bree's' and I think-"

Elena held up a hand. "Thanks, but I have things to do; like I said projects and stuff."

"And this stuff being?"

"Just…stuff," Elena shrugged as she put the coffeepot back into its place and clicked a button on the machine to brew a fresh pot. "You wouldn't understand." She bit her lip in nervousness as Jesse took a menu from a pile to his right of the bar and scanned it. Her breathing hitched when she saw yet another person with the same features that have been haunting her for six years. Only it wasn't him, again.

Irritation seemed to build up because Jesse took notice of it immediately; though he just gave her a look and went back to ordering his food. Elena didn't know what it was lately with her seeing Damon everywhere she looked. He moved on, at least that's what Caroline has been updating her on. Her perky blonde friend was attending Whitmore College back in Virginia and has been texting and calling almost all the time. Bonnie, on the other hand, hasn't been. Her other friend moved to another state to live with her father while also on the search for her mother. Elena sighed, turning around to check on the coffee that had steam seeping into the air from the top.

Her life was going down the drain as of two years ago. The 75,000 dollars didn't cover college. After buying herself an apartment, furniture, and the essentials, she was left with a small chunk of change. It was enough to cover her funds for a few months, but by her sophomore year of college, she took up a job at Rousseau's, a local restaurant/bar in the middle of the French Quarter. Damon's mother Elizabeth had obviously lied to her about the money. She told Elena clearly that it would be enough, but of course, Elena didn't research how much everything was. It tore her apart to learn that she was a fool to believe the older woman at all. Elizabeth _hated _Elena. So in the end she always thought it was her own fault to actually trust her.

"Earth to Elena," Jesse said from behind her. Elena rolled her eyes playfully as she turned around. "I would like one cup of coffee please."

She poured it for him into a mug as another face came into view. It was her friend Hayley. She gave Elena a smile before taking a seat in the stool next to Jesse. Her expression gave Elena the impression that she wasn't up for talking at the moment. She slid the mug across to Jesse who took a sip of it greedily.

"Is something wrong?" Elena asked and put the pot back in its rightful place. "You look…"

"Horrible?" Hayley questioned with a tense tone. "I know."

Elena narrowed her eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Hayley shook her head. "No, I think it'd be better if I don't. I really don't want to talk about it."

"Okay," Elena said. She shook her head as her phone began ringing in her pocket. Phones were prohibited during work hours. Elena sometimes made the exception to keep it on vibrate and slip it into her pocket before work. It was a force of habit.

Elena stepped back into the dry store room in the back of the house. She put the phone up to her ear as her friend Caroline's voice chirped happily into her ear. She about fell over by the squeal she heard. "What is it, 'Care?"

"Guess who's turning twenty-two next week?"

"Who?" Elena played along as if she didn't know. When, in reality, she knew it was Caroline Forbes' big twenty-two.

"Mine, silly!" Caroline let out another squeal of excitement. "And I - being your best friend who will always love, love, love you with all my heart - am going to pay for your plane ticket to come here."

Elena about dropped her phone. Did she hear correctly? Or did Caroline really think she was going to step back into Mystic Falls? She gasped, "Caroline! You know I love you and all, but I can't go."

"No, you're coming and you can't back out."

"Caroline-"

"Elena," Caroline stopped her and sighed. "You can't keep running away from your problems. I know that you and Damon have some sort of weird rift in your relationship, but you have to come back. You have to. You're bound to see him one day and I know for a fact that he won't be at my party so you'll only be here for a few days and then you can leave after the party."

The doe eyed girl bit her lip in thought. She did want to be a good friend since she did miss Caroline's twenty-first birthday. She owed her it. But then that nagging voice in the back of her mind returned again and caused her stomach to flip. Elena couldn't go back to Mystic Falls, she just couldn't. It wasn't that she didn't want to see her daughter, she _really _did, but with Damon around it would be inhumanly impossible. Plus, Elizabeth might just have Elena thrown out of Mystic Falls by planting something in everyone's minds. There was also that contract...

Elena shook her head. "I'm sorry, Caroline."

The other end was dead silence before she heard a sigh in a disappointed manner. "Okay." The end went silent as Elena's hand fell to her side. She felt bad, _really _bad.

In a few minutes, she was back out behind the bar and saw Hayley in tears and Jesse patting her back in a comforting motion. Elena didn't want to pry or anything and decided just to make herself useful and clean off some crumb covered tables while the two had their moment. Her thoughts became jumbled with different scenarios if she did return to Mystic Falls. Would they run at each other and hug it out? Would he allow her to see Alex? Or would he do the opposite and forget she even existed while he sticks his tongue down another woman's throat?

Her thoughts ran wild as she took a deep breath, feeling someone tap on her shoulder. She jumped, turning her head to see it was only Jesse with his mouth set in a firm line. Elena quirked a brow.

"Me and Hayley have got to run…some things have come up and she'd rather not be in public right now," Jesse said before turning on his heels and leaving the establishment with a puffy eyed Hayley following toe.

Elena sighed. She was always out of the loop, wasn't she? That's something she always thought when it came to her two friends. They were always in their own little bubble, and, sometimes, it annoyed the hell out of her. She wished for Caroline and Bonnie to be by her side at that very moment.

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The light above seemed to flicker as Elena stared down at the paper lying across the wooden bar. It was the only source of light at the moment, since all the others in the bar were put out a little over a half an hour ago. It was now two in the morning and Elena had little to no desire to go home. Her comfortable position, cramped hand, and sweaty palms gave her the motivation she needed to finish off the first chapter of her soon-to-be book. Well, not _that _soon.

The room moved in a bit of a blur as sleep pushed her to close her eyes. She wouldn't though. She had to finish the first chapter, she just had to. Or else her muse would be six feet under if she did.

A grin ghosted her features before a ring of a phone pierced through the quietness. Elena sighed, grabbing it from beside the paper and holding it up to her face. "Hello?"

"Elena?" It was Katherine, her polar opposite sister. Her voice was laced with confusion and worry. "Elena, you need to get here."

_What? _Did Katherine really think she was going to fly out to Mystic Falls? Unless it was a dire emergency, she had to refuse, just like she did with Caroline. "I can't, 'Kat."

The cracking of her voice made Elena perk up at the sound. It sounded like an emergency to her. "There's been an accident."

"What kind of accident, Katherine?" Elena closed her notebook and hurried around the bar to her bag where she placed it neatly inside before swinging it onto her shoulder. Something was wrong, and she couldn't miss out on what was taking place.

"It's…it's Dad."

"Dad? What happened? Is he okay?"

"No, he's in a coma, Elena. He was in a car accident a few hours ago and we just got news that he…he…they don't think he'll ever wake up again," Katherine sobbed, causing Elena's heart to clench in a way that has never been done before.

Elena walked out the door, flicked off the remaining lights, and walked to her car as rain lightly fell onto her form. She couldn't hang up the phone. She had to make arrangements to go home after all. But there was a question that picked at the back of her mind: _Would they allow her to stay? _

The last time she ever spoke to her parents was after a brutal argument over having Alexandria. She got kicked out and was forced to move in with Damon. It really wasn't the icing on the cake, but she had nowhere else to go. Then she drifted away from her mother and father and chose to lead a life off of 75,000 dollars that didn't exactly go over too well.

"Katherine, I'm going to get a plane ticket and come out there in a few days, okay?" Elena heard a soft 'okay' before clicking off her phone and placing it into her purse that now sat in the passenger seat. She tried to wrap her mind around the fact that she had to face Damon eventually, but that wasn't the issue here. Elena shook him from her head as she put the keys into the ignition and waited for her car to heat up some more. The pitter-patter of rain grew during the next minutes that she sat there. Her mind was coming up with so many scenarios and situations that she would come by when she returned to Mystic Falls. A groan escaped her lips afterwards.

It was going to be a lot harder when she got there, but she just had to endure it. Her father was in the hospital and she wasn't just going to stay in New Orleans and ignore the fact he was in trouble. He had to have one of his daughter's by his side, and Elena couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him again. As for her mother, Elena didn't know what to expect. They've had a troubled past that meant tons of arguments, crying, and the slamming of doors. Elena was a teenager then, however, which meant there was bound to be some family tension. Then there comes Jeremy and Katherine; while Elena loves her little brother to death, there was always some sort of rift caught between the sisters. They were polar opposites and never got along growing up. You could say that Katherine was the queen bee and Elena was the quiet shy one in school. It was true and the two never seemed to ever patch things up.

Elena caught sight of her phone blinking in her purse through the darkness of the car. Whoever it was would have to wait. Right now all she had in mind was to get home and pack her things. She had to see her father no matter what.

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_**Writer's Note: Did I make you wait long enough? I'm evil, I know. It's been a month, or almost one, since I published this story and the feedback I got so far was great even if it wasn't much. Thanks you to all those who followed or favorited, even those who reviewed. You're all lovely and I do have big ideas for this story so I hope I keep getting more appreciation towards 'Stubborn Love'. Thanks, again.**_


	3. Chapter 2: Gotta Secret, Can You Keep It

**_Chapter 2: Gotta Secret, Can You Keep It?_**

By the time the sun came up and the moon went down, Elena was dressed and packed for her trip back to Mystic Falls. It took a lot of arguing with her boss to let her have these next few days off, but she managed to get her to agree with the situation that Elena was in. There was a few helpless pleas here and there with a bit of crying involved, not that it mattered, and Elena knew she was in the clear by the sound of a irritated sigh coming from her boss' lips.

Not only that, but Elena convinced Hayley to tag along with her. Since her emotional break down the day before, Hayley wasn't sure if she really wanted to go anywhere; especially to Mystic Falls, where she has no mutual friends or family. Elena used her little persuasive techniques, however, and she agreed in no time.

Now here they were, sitting shoulder to shoulder in a plush seat in the middle of a large airport, sipping on drinks and reading the local celebrity gossip all over the front page of a famously known national magazine. They were about to board any minute now and Elena was tapping her foot along with a beat that came from the one earphone in her ear, the other swinging soundlessly around her chest area. Hayley noticed it and quirked a brow at the biting of her friends lips and the eagerness in her eyes.

"Haven't you flown before?" Hayley questioned.

Elena wasn't paying attention and looked up at her as she stopped her foot and paused her music. "What?"

"I asked if you've been on a plane before? You know, a thing with wings that goes in the sky?"

"Oh," Elena said hurriedly. "Yeah, I have. How else would I have gotten to New Orleans?"

"Car."

"_Right_ - like I'm going to drive fifteen hours all the way down here. I'd be broke by the time I got here anyway," Elena chuckled.

Hayley only shrugged and went back to her reading. Elena felt a voice pick at her brain from the back of her mind as she watched her friend read silently. She had the urge to ask her about whatever happened yesterday. Elena didn't want to sound nosy because if Hayley did want to tell her she would have. But she didn't which deterred Elena from asking anything further than an 'are you okay' this morning before leaving for the airport.

The doe eyed girl mustered up the courage to speak a word. "Are you…what happened yesterday?"

Hayley dropped the magazine with ease before picking her eyes back up to stare at Elena. "Just…something happened that I didn't expect."

"Which was…?"

A sigh escaped her lips, continuing as a hand was placed on her forehead. "I had a…" the next words were not heard. It was mumbled between Hayley's lips.

Elena narrowed her eyes. "What was that?"

"I had a miscarriage, okay?" She huffed and puffed and blew the house down. Well, actually, the only thing getting blown down was Elena as she took in the information. She was taken aback by the sudden words that were coming from Hayley's mouth. She sat there with her mouth wide open and her hand barely holding onto her phone in her hands. "What?"

"You had a miscarriage? You were _pregnant_?"

"I didn't know. It sort of just happened. I saw blood and I knew for a fact that it wasn't Mother Nature creeping up on me at an untimely manner," Hayley said and buried her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry for not telling you. I just…didn't want you to freak out."

"Hayley, I'm not 'freaked out'. I'm disappointed that you couldn't trust me enough to tell me."

"It's not that I didn't trust you. I just…couldn't deal with it; the questions that would follow and all that stuff." Hayley packed up her bag as they began calling out their flight number over the loudspeaker. "Plus, don't make this about you! You have no idea what it's like to have a child taken away from you. Let alone mine that I didn't even know existed in my own stomach."

Elena watched as Hayley trotted off without her. It hurt, those words, because Elena _did _have her child taken away from her. Sort of; depending on how you look at it. She sat there with sadness drowning her eyes and her head clouding her thoughts about her daughter. Oh, how she hated thinking about Alexa and her life now. What did she look like: did she have Elena's hair, Damon's eyes - or the other way around? Was she a spunky little six year old with attitude much like Damon? Or a bookworm at heart who knew when to speak or to keep hushed?

She wished she could know her daughter; whether it is through a Facetime every weekend or a video chat through Skype, she just wanted to meet her and cherish her like Elena never got to. A picture or emails would suffice too, but Elena preferred the best of the best.

It took about five minutes for Elena to realize she was late for her flight. It was a good thing that the lady at the gate was a sweet wrinkled old woman with a bright smile, or else Elena would have to reschedule her flight if it took off without her. Yeah, she really didn't want that.

After pushing her carry on into the overhead luggage compartment, she took a seat at the window where she was assigned and gazed outside the window. It was a beautiful day. The grass was greener than ever, the sky was the bluest of blues, and there were no clouds in sight – just an occasional flock of birds flying overhead with some cawing going on that dotted the sky. Not that she could hear it inside the airplane, but Elena could imagine it.

People took their seats and soon the rowdiness calmed down. The flight attendant said some words to them all and they were off into the air and to Richmond.

* * *

The three hour trip was going longer than Elena had anticipated. She once again had her earphones in and was watching _Orange is the New Black _on Netflix. She laughed at something coming from her screen as she felt a tapping on her shoulder. It was Hayley who rubbed her eyes from her tired state, yawning as she blinked repeatedly.

"What time is it?" she asked.

Elena glanced at the clock on her phone. "It's almost six. You passed out by the time the flight attendant was done rambling on and on with her speech."

"Oh," Hayley said in a low voice. There was an awkward silence between them before she finally broke it. "Look, 'Lena, I'm really sorry. I just-"

"Don't worry about it," Elena said after waving her off. "I understand, trust me. You were right, though. It wasn't my place to question you over it."

"No, Elena. I should've told you. I should've and I feel really bad for not doing that and snapping at you like that-"

Elena laughed, "Hayley. Seriously, it's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Great." She smiled and moved around in the seat as the pilot said something overhead. "Now we don't have any secrets between one another."

That hit Elena in the face like a freight train. She felt like a horrible because never told Hayley or Jesse, or anybody else for the matter, about Alexa or Damon. The only thing Elena ever mentioned was about her screwed up relationship she had with Damon; nothing more, nothing less. This caused Elena bite her lip as Hayley shared a smile with her. Elena knew that she should say something; to clear the air before something went downhill. But she couldn't. She couldn't find the courage she needed. What if Hayley judged her for leaving her child? What if Hayley didn't like her because of it if she even said one word? Elena couldn't bear the aftermath.

She felt tears brim her eyes, blinking them away before Hayley could notice. "Yeah, we have nothing more to worry about." Hopefully Hayley didn't catch the water that could've stung her eyes.

She must've because Hayley gave Elena a wavering eye, but didn't bother to ask about it. "Hey, I'm going to go use the bathroom. So…" Elena waved her off as Hayley spoke and watched her friend get up and leave her seat wide open.

It was as if nothing else could go wrong as her friend disappeared into the back of the plane. A little weight was lifted from her hunched shoulders when she was no longer in Hayley's presence. If the conversation proceeded, Elena would go nuts. There were multiple times when she actually did. Many of them were caused by one person that knew how to push her buttons over the smallest things.

Elena smiled.

* * *

_**Sophomore Year**_

"I can't take this anymore," a blonde beaut Caroline Forbes said in an aggravated tone. "It's not even ¾ of the way into to school year and I already have the temptation to drop out. The next piece of homework I am handed I am going to ball it up and throw it in Mr. Hunt's face."

"It's not that bad," Elena said, looking at her best friend in the eyes. "I mean, it could be worse. At least you don't have Mrs. Kenneth. That woman knows how to tick her students off with her endless amount of essays."

Bonnie laughed, "I'm so lucky to have the nice teachers."

"Don't rub it in, 'Bon," Caroline said before slamming her tray down onto the lunch table as Elena and Bonnie did the same. "You're just…I don't know…likable."

"You guys are too…if you applied yourself."

"Oh, ha-ha; very funny, Bonnie," Elena said.

It was just another ordinary fall day and the classes seemed endless to practically the whole school. The beginning of the year dragged on while the end moved faster than one could blink. It was completely ridiculous to Elena Gilbert; the golden girl, goody-goody, and straight-A student. You wouldn't believe her to actually hate high school. What she did hate were the people, mostly. Especially the ones that took their time in the middle of the hallways to actually stuff their tongues down people's throats and those who had little to no decency picking on her over little things.

Speaking of someone who had a title for making out with girls in the hallways, Damon Salvatore – the bad boy and everybody's dream guy – walked towards Elena's table with her twin sister, Klaus Mikaelson, Rebekah Mikaelson, Andie Starr, and Kol Mikaelson following in toe. They sat down across from them as Elena looked down at the table below her eyes. Caroline sipped on her drink nonchalantly and Bonnie whipped open a notebook and started writing down notes from her last class.

"Dad's picking us up after school," Katherine said. "Mom has something to do after work so it's just going to be the three of us."

Elena looked up. "Okay, what about Jeremy?"

She shrugged, her curls bouncing with her shoulders. "I have no clue."

Jeremy was their younger brother. He was only ten years old and went to the elementary school down the street. He was a happy young boy with artistic dreams who didn't fear what came next. He dreamed of never laying a paint brush down when he got older, planned to be successful and swimming in wealth, and was just compassionate in everything he did. Even if it meant having his picture from a coloring book mounted above his art teacher's desk. He was happiness on two feet.

"Okay," Elena muttered before looking around and searching for something to occupy her time with. A voice, deep and like silk to her ears, pulled her gaze away from a picture on the wall behind her.

"So this is your sister?" Damon asked. He raked his eyes over Elena like she was a piece of meat, but sighed when he noticed the grimace on her lips.

"Yeah, Elena, this is Damon. Damon, Elena," Katherine motioned towards them both, but Elena rolled her eyes which caused her sister to grit her teeth.

_Were they friends now or something?_ Elena thought. She remembered that Katherine's only friend was Rebekah – and that wasn't even four days ago. Now they were sitting with Damon's "clique" of friends consisting of _the _Klaus and Kol Mikaelson and Andie Starr. Although, one would doubt that Andie was a shiny little diamond as the rest. She was more of a fake one, a wannabe that would never be. For some odd, unknown reason, she looked at Elena like a child. The sneer that would come from her lips as she looked at Elena made her angry.

"She's very…quiet," Andie remarked.

Katherine nodded, "Yeah. I don't know where she gets that from - obviously not me."

As the girls laughed, Elena felt heat rise in her face. She could practically feel the plastic of the fork in her hand dig into her palm. It angered her so much when Katherine and her friends would laugh at her. Even if it was in a joking matter, she absolutely hated it. All Elena wished for was for it to just end, but she knew it wouldn't until she was out of school.

"Um, Elena," Caroline nudged her with her elbow. "You're bleeding."

Elena jumped back in shock as she saw droplets of blood on her palm. _Good going. _Elena shook her head and rushed to the bathroom. Her hand stung as she applied warm water to the wound. Then, out of the blue, she felt someone touch her shoulder. Elena jumped.

"Hey, it's just me," Damon laughed. Elena narrowed her eyes. "Don't give me those judge-y little eyes of yours." He grabbed her hand and examined it.

Elena snatched her hand away. "I'm fully capable of doing this myself, thank you." She hissed, feeling his eyes bore into hers. Then something dawned on her. "Wait, you can't be in here! It's the _girls' _restroom." _Dumb ass. _

"You make it sound like I haven't been in here a few dozen times," Damon smirked.

"Gross," Elena groaned. She didn't mean to say it aloud, but couldn't help it.

"Oh, please. I know that there's a bad girl underneath all that innocence and naivety that is just begging to have my name screaming from it's lips." Damon took a few steps toward her, his breath ghosting her cheek. Elena felt herself shiver as he licked his lips, staring at her own.

Elena rolled her eyes after containing herself and shoved him backwards. "Get over yourself." She quickly took a paper towel from the dispenser and rushed out of the bathroom. Not before hitting him again with her own shoulder.


	4. Chapter 3: Surprise, Surprise

_**Chapter 3: Surprise, Surprise**_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you got married?" Elena questioned as she sat in the passenger seat of her twin's car. Hayley was in the back biting her lip as the two in the front were engrossed in a very important, more like irrelevant, conversation.

Katherine nodded. "Mhm. You're looking at Katherine _Mikaelson._"

"You got married to Klaus?"

"Ew, God, no," Katherine cringed and took another turn closer to the hospital. "I'm married to Elijah. Not to that dirt bag."

Elena laughed as they parked the car. They had been driving for little over two hours from the airport and now it was dark and eerie outside as they exited the vehicle. Katherine wasn't joining the two girls because she said she had things to do at her house and she couldn't bear an overworked and annoyed Elijah when she got home. As Katherine drove out of the parking lot, she honked her horn and Elena raised her hand in the air as a sign of good-bye.

"You're sister isn't that bad," Hayley said as they entered the hospital. "I expected a spoiled, Gucci liking airhead that didn't care about anyone but herself."

"You should've met her in school. She was such a brat," Elena said. She watched as Hayley took a seat in the waiting area as she approached the front desk. "Hi, I was wondering if I could visit my Dad. His name's Grayson Gilbert." The woman looked oddly familiar as she started typing things into her computer. Elena just shrugged and turned back to see Hayley chatting with a blonde woman to her left. The other woman laughed as Hayley did the same. _She makes friends fast. _

"Katherine Gilbert, am I correct?" The woman at the desk asked, causing Elena to whip her head back.

"Oh, no, I'm uh-"

"Elena?" A voice cut her off mid-sentence, causing Elena to wince and close her eyes as if she had her hand caught in a cookie jar and was on the verge of getting scolded. Slowly, Elena turned on her heels to come face to face with a woman who didn't look to be a day over forty; grey streaks were covered up by a darker shade of brown as the woman forced a smile that wrinkled up a bit near her lips. "Katherine told me you'd be visiting."

Elena fiddled with her keys. "Can you blame me? I happen to have a soft spot for people in a coma."

Her mother looked at her coldly, her gaze causing every single nerve in Elena's body to freeze for a moment as they looked at each other dead in the eye, but somehow Miranda's gaze softened, taking Elena by surprise. They stood there awkwardly before finally the woman from behind Elena piped up. "Miranda, would you like to take…Elena to her father?"

"Sure thing, Meredith. I'd be happy to," Miranda said with a forced smile and linked arms with her daughter, tugging her down the hallway towards the east wing. Elena made eye contact with Hayley for only a moment before disappearing down the hall and out of sight.

They passed rooms without saying a word. People were carted in and out of the rooms for various reasons. Elena tried not to make eye contact with someone who looked sickly pale and all around sick as they turned down yet another hallway. She felt bad as she looked at everyone in each room they passed. At least they weren't in the children's wing; or else Elena knew she'd feel a whole lot worse for them.

Suddenly they stopped at a room. Elena pushed herself off of her mother and glanced inside through the window. It was her father, laying there with a tube down his mouth and his eyes closed. The image made tears roll down her face. It broke her heart. Elena couldn't even look at her mother who was now standing beside her with one hand on her shoulder. Elena shrugged it off and tried to look away, but the door opened from the inside and both women were met by Giuseppe Salvatore, the town's top doctor. He wasn't really confused by Elena's appearance, and simply brushed it off with a grin.

"Elena Marie Gilbert, it's been a long time," Giuseppe said and moved out of the doorway. "I take it you're not here to see-" He was interrupted by Miranda who coughed deeply.

Elena rolled her eyes and walked towards her father. "How is he?" He looked pretty bent out of shape by the looks of it. She just wanted to know if he was going to wake up anytime soon.

She heard a sigh from behind her and looked over to see Giuseppe looking over a clipboard. "Not so good, I'm afraid." He walked over towards an x-ray illuminator and clipped some x-rays of her father's head. "He was in a head on collision with another person and Grayson hit his head on the steering wheel, which resulted in his head rocking back and forth while the cars stopped moving. As his head moved and hit the seat as well as the wheel once again, pressure built up on the brain as you can see here," he says and points to the part of the brain nearest to the forehead, "and then the bruising of his head swells up like a balloon on the inside of his brain and causes him to go into this unconscious state."

"Can he…can he hear us?" Elena gulped.

"It's a possibility, but I doubt that he can right now. Not when he's in this type of condition."

"Type of condition?"

Giuseppe clicked the roof of his mouth with his tongue as he observed Elena, looking for the right words to say. "Elena, your father's accident was a horrific event, most of the town knows about it. Hence all the flowers about the room-" Elena looked around, finally taking them in. "But on the Glasgow Scale, Grayson is at a one right now; no eye movements, makes no sounds, and has no movements whatsoever. When this happens, it's possible that your father may…never wake up again. _But_ don't take my word for it. There is a possibility he may wake up, only time will tell."

Elena couldn't comprehend what was she was going to do now. The news had completely shattered her heart, broken her. "Okay," she said before turning around to breathe in and out at a pace that would free her from any waterworks. "That's…that's fine. I mean, he could wake up so that's…that's good."

A disapproving look was shot at her from Miranda, causing Elena to look at the floor like a scolded child. Did she doubt her own husband wouldn't wake up? That's what it looked like to Elena as she turned back to the x-rays, trying to find something else to focus on besides the pending questions in her mind.

"I'll leave you two to it then," Giuseppe mentioned before the clicking of the door echoed off the walls.

Now it was just Elena, Miranda, and an unconscious Grayson all in the same room for the first time in six years. The girl shifted her weight from one foot to another, feeling her mother's gaze on her. It was weird to just stand there and not say a word - when they should be saying something and talking things out; but how could they when their relationship was still on the rocks after these many years? Elena looked back at her Dad, and felt tears well up in her eyes once more. It was tragic.

"You know you don't have to be here," Miranda mused before following her daughter's gaze towards her husband. "We were fine without you."

Elena felt heat rise beneath her skin, anger coursing her veins. "He's my _Dad, _Mom. I can't just live life as if he isn't in a life threatening state. He needs his daughter, both of his daughter's."

"I know that, Elena. It'd just be better if you be there for him over nine hundred miles away. That's all."

"Why do you hate me?" Elena asked with tears ghosting her eyes. "I made a mistake, I know that, but at least I forgot about it."

"_Forgot_? Please, tell me you're joking."

"I'm not. Alexa…she's…she's just a girl that doesn't need her burden of a mother around. I'm sure she's happy with Damon," Elena said as she felt a pang of hurt graze her heart. _And Elizabeth, _she thought, mentally rolling her eyes.

"You're right."

"Am I? Good. Then you'll believe me when I say that I had to leave," Elena argued. "I would be nothing but a screw up. I had to do things my way. I had to leave and keep myself from not having to put my life on hold for other people."

"Because you're selfish."

"Am not," Elena shot back with her tone rising. _I was hurt, I was used. She would never understand. _"This is why we never got along. You always looked at Katherine like the golden child, while I was just brushed to the side as nothing."

"The only reason I never gave my love towards you like I should've is because you messed your life up. We had everything planned out; college, funds, everything. And then you choose to go behind our backs and sleep with the town's scum."

"Damon was not scum, Mom! Yes, he was a womanizing bad boy, but he learned to love me and only me."

"Right, _okay._"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elena asked.

Miranda sighed. "I knew about his affair, Elena. Everyone knew about it."

"And you didn't bother to tell me?"

"It was for the best. Elizabeth had this plan-"

"You knew about that? Mom, how could you?" Elena cried.

"It was for the best."

"For the best? That is not for the best, Mom!" Elena screamed, balling her fists up at her sides.

"I'm not talking about this right now when your father is in the room close to death."

"Too late. We already did," Elena said before walking out of the room. Things around her started to move in slow motion, as if it were one of those really weird scenes in the movies where the girl comes to realization about things as tears roll down her face. People passed her each second and then walked into her father's room. But someone, more like two people, walked past her that made her freeze in step. It was the blonde girl from before, the one that was chatting it up with Hayley, with a small little hand in hers as they were walking down the hall and into Grayson's room. The little girl had straight brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and bright blue eyes that caused a shiver to go down her spine.

_Alexandra? _Elena couldn't figure it out as she continued walking back down the hall. As she rounded a corner, Elena felt herself hit someone's chest. Looking up, she found a very confused Stefan Salvatore staring down at her. _Shit. _

"Katherine," Stefan greeted with no emotion in his eyes.

"Uh, Stefan," Elena said with the same amount of uncertainty in her voice.

"Did you just see Paige walk down this way?"

"Paige?" Elena asked, raising her brow.

"Yeah, she had Alexa by her side."

"Uh…um…yeah. She's just down that way," Elena jutted her finger out towards the space behind her. He shared a smile with her before taking off down that way. _Paige, Paige who? _ That was the question running through her head as she met up with Hayley.

"Hey, are you ready to go?" She asked.

"Yeah." Elena nodded and looked behind her, checking to see if there was a blue eyed devil possibly there - no one in sight. She sighed in relief before following her friend out of the automated doors and into the brisk spring night.

* * *

Birds chirped as Elena woke up in the guest bedroom of Katherine and Elijah's mansion. It was a spacious bedroom with a joined bathroom and large closet. The walls were painted with a soft yellow color and a four post bed plopped in the middle of it against the wall. Elena was thankful that they both allowed her and Hayley to stay. She wouldn't know what to do if they hadn't.

"Rise and shine! We have a big day ahead of us," Katherine said as she walked through the door with a look of determination on her face. "There's a huge dinner at Mom's place and we have to be there."

"Do we have to," Elena groaned.

"Yes. You have to reconnect with her and get over whatever is causing this rift between you two."

"Alright, Dr. Phil."

Katherine laughed. This was the first time Elena and Katherine could actually joke around without Kat flipping out over it. To Elena, it was weird to see her sister in such a different light, but it was good. Elena enjoyed seeing her sister with a nice smile on her face without some hidden sassiness to it. It was truly great that they were finally getting along.

"You should probably get out of bed. It's twelve and Mom will flip if she sees we're not there in the next thirty minutes," Katherine said before backing out of the room.

Elena sat there for the next few minutes before picking herself up out of the sheets and walking towards her luggage. She grabbed a black high waist skirt and white V-neck top and hurried to the bathroom. After her shirt was tucked in and everything was in the right place, she laced on her converse and ran down the stairs to meet up with Elijah, Katherine, and Hayley. They all shared smiles at one another before finally walking out the door.


	5. Chapter 4: Table for Six

_**Chapter 4: Table for Six**_

By the time they walked stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind them, they were surrounded by good smelling food and the sound of a boy yelling at something coming from the living room. A smile crept onto Elena's face as she recognized the screaming that belonged to Jeremy. She looked around before leaving towards his voice, loving how her childhood home still looked the same.

Elena walked into her living room and was met by her little brother's back that sat in the couch. He was tapping rapidly on an Xbox controller and yelling into his headset. He didn't even acknowledge Elena's presence until Miranda yelled for help with setting the table. When he did, his eyes widened with surprise and he hugged her tightly. Elena laughed, wrapping her arms around her sixteen year old brother again like she did all those years before.

"Alright…losing…breath," Elena gasped as he let go of her. "Have you…have you been working out?" She squeezed his biceps as he looked back at her with a laugh escaping his lips. "You have. Who are you trying to impress?"

"This girl Anna. She's new here this year and she's totally my type."

"Is she?"

"Yeah, we met at the library," Jeremy said.

Elena raised a brow. "Since when do you go to the library?"

"Since I found out that I have this want to go to art school and need to brush up on my skills," Jeremy said with a low tone that made Elena wonder for a moment. "I sort of…fell behind on things last year."

"What?"

"Yeah…Uh, look, I don't really want to talk about it so how about we just get to eating. I'm starving."

The way he hurried into the kitchen gave Elena a weird vibe. What has her brother been up to lately? And why was he so guarded about it? She shrugged the thought away and walked into the kitchen where everyone was seated in place and food was lined up in the center of the table. Elena met her mother's glance and placed her napkin on her lap before waiting her turn for food. Everything smelled great and she couldn't wait to get a bite of it all.

As things grew quieter, Elena couldn't help but look over at Elijah and Katherine who were engrossed in a quiet conversation with their hands meeting right between themselves. Elena envied relationships like that. That's all she ever wanted, and somehow nothing turned out as planned. An image of Damon passed through her mind; his raven black hair, deep blue eyes, and sometimes that 5 o'clock shadow that grazed her cheek whenever he placed kisses on her-

Elena shook her head. She wouldn't think about him – not here, not ever. All he brought was trouble. His middle name should've been trouble instead of Joseph. Damon Joseph Salvatore – no matter how many times she tried to shake him from her head he always seemed to pop up at unexpected times. Elena frowned as she felt him come back into her head again. As if she was alone, she smacked herself in the forehead with the palm of her hand, earning looks from her peers. She faked a laugh.

"Um…I just remembered that I…had to make a phone call to one of my professors over a paper of mine," Elena said before hurrying out of the room with her phone pressing into the palm of her hand. She was running out the door so quickly that she didn't notice she wasn't alone. A hard chest was in her way and she scoffed as they chuckled.

Elena could smell his cologne on him, the same one he wore for years, and the minty fresh breath on her ear as she looked up at him. She gawked at the sight of Damon Salvatore. He was freshly shaved, built, and looked pretty good in his signature leather jacket - like always. Elena expected him to be all dressed up in some business suit with a suitcase at his side. He talked about Elizabeth and Giuseppe pushing him to be a lawyer back in the day so she couldn't picture his future self looking any different than the picture planted in her head.

"Whoa, Kat," Damon laughed as Elena took a step back. "Easy there. I know you always had a thing for me back in the day, but I'm happily engaged and you're happily married. Although, if you're wanting to, you know…"

"Gross!" Elena pushed him away only to hear him chuckle again.

"I'm kidding," Damon stated as he handed her a box. "It's some pies from my mother to yours so if you could-"

"Whatever," Elena said, placing her hands on both sides of the box. _How about I just take your freaking humbleberry pie and shove it up your- _

"Well, I've got to run. Alexa broke her leg during ballet practice today so she's at the hospital with Paige."

_Paige? Paige freaking who – the same one from yesterday? _"Okay." Elena tried her hardest to bite back the glare that threatened to appear on her face.

"…Okay," Damon repeated with the same amount of enthusiasm – which was a zero on a scale from one to ten. He took a few steps back before turning around fully. But he didn't make it inside his car without calling out, "Hey, Kat! Just some advice, don't ever straighten your hair. It makes you look a little…"

Instead of having him finish, Elena flipped him off with no remorse as she shot him a glorified smirk that matched his. No, Elena Gilbert, you are not going to be pulled back into that one.

* * *

"Be warned, there might be traces of cockroaches in it," Elena said, lounging on the sofa in the living room as everyone ate the apple pie in silence. It was an hour since her confrontation with Damon and she wasn't happy with the aftermath as everyone talked about how _oh-so-amazing _the pie was. _Yeah, chewing on three year old apples with a crust drier than the desert must be such a thrill. _

Hayley gushed, "This pie is great! I wish I had a mother like…what's his face…to bake me one like it. My mom can't bake to save her life." Her smile vanished as Elena gave her a look, placing the pie down onto the coffee table with ease. "Well, I had a great time, Mrs. Gilbert."

"Oh, please. Call me Miranda," Miranda smiled.

Hayley nodded and got up off the chair and approached the front door as everyone joined her. But Elena and Jeremy were the only ones that stayed back.

"Hey, 'Jer?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened last year that you weren't up to par with art?" Elena asked.

He stayed silent for the most part.

"Jeremy, I'm your sister and you can tell me anything."

"Not this, Elena. You'd be disappointed in me."

"Jeremy-"

The sentence didn't go on as Katherine called for her from the foyer. As if on cue, they both stood up and gave each other a hug. "You can tell me when the time is right, okay?" Elena said and let go of him. He nodded at her suggestion and watched as she walked towards the front door.

Miranda waited for her as the others left. "We didn't really get around to talking tonight."

"I guess we just saved the lives of plates and glasses," Elena joked, but watched as her mother didn't get it. "Look, Mom, I don't want to be stuck in this limbo forever. I want to make an effort and somehow make things right between us despite the fact that you had that whole agreement with Elizabeth planned out…"

"Elena, I don't think we can ever be happy like we were when you were only a child, and I apologize for that. You're still my daughter, and I care about you – I really do, but I just can't deal with you as a burden for me. With your father being in a coma and Jeremy's remission, I just don't think you would fit in as part of the family. You're still invited to get-togethers, but don't expect me to be there when you figure out that there is no way out for you…that you'll always be known as the girl who got pregnant at sixteen and didn't care about her child in which you fled-"

"Because you made me!" Elena was angry now as she heard the words come out of her Mom's mouth.

"Oh, honey, I did anything but. You can blame Elizabeth for that one even though I gave it a green light. That was the fish, you were the worm. Always such a gullible and naïve child right from the get-go."

"How can you be so cold and heartless to your own daughter? You're my mother and you're supposed to love me," Elena yelled.

"That's the thing, darling. You're not my daughter anymore," Miranda said it with no regrets. Her face was expressionless, still and calm, as if not even a bee could sting her and cause her to show emotion at all.

Elena could feel the tears as they raced down her cheeks at lightning speed. "Fine…if that's how you see it." She ran out of the house and slammed the door behind her. As she came closer to Katherine's car, she fell to her knees in tears. Her mother hated her, hated her existence, and just hated her own daughter altogether. Elena couldn't comprehend it all as she felt Elijah pick her up from her spot on the pavement and bring her to their car. She slid into the backseat of the darkness and looked over at Hayley with sadness filling in her own eyes. She placed a hand on top of Elena's and gave her a smile.

"What a bitch," were the only words Hayley said to cause Elena's frown to disappear and follow by a smile.


	6. Chapter 5: Tragedy Never Ends Happily

_**Chapter 5: Tragedy Never Ends Happily**_

The smell of grease filtered through the air as Elena glanced down at the notebook placed on the table in front of her. The pen in her hand stayed still. She hoped that somehow the pen could write something for her, but somehow, nothing worked. Elena sat there with a blank muse and no motivation to write. Her book was coming together, but at an awfully slow pace. It had been in the works for a little over a year and now she can't even get through chapter two. It's pretty bad that this was supposed to make or break her career and she had nothing so far. If she kept it up, Elena Gilbert would just be the gum on practically everybody's shoe like people anticipated. She had to show them, she just had to.

As people pushed and shoved their way through the crowded restaurant, a bubbly blonde Caroline Forbes approached her table with a foolish grin on her face. She sat down across from her in the booth and took off her jacket before finally placing her entwined hands onto the table in determination.

"Hey," Caroline smiled.

"Hi, 'Care." Elena wanted to give her friend a huge hug, which she was planning to do, until a certain someone walked into the establishment with a blonde by his side and a six year old in his arms. Elena's eyes fell onto the cast on Alexa's foot and about shed a tear.

The brunette watched as they took a seat at a booth somewhere behind them and quickly moved her gaze back to Caroline that gave her a questioning brow, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah…everything's fine. Now, what's good here? I hope their burgers are still top notch," Elena said, trying to make a move to change the subject. But Caroline wasn't having any of it.

"Is it Damon?" Caroline asked. "You need to forget about him, Elena. He's just bad news and you don't need that thing in your life."

"It's not Damon that I want in my life, 'Care. I want Alexa. She's my daughter so I have a right to see her," Elena clarified as she grabbed her pen again. "And anyway, who's Paige and is it true that they're engaged?"

Caroline rolled her eyes, "Paige Fell. She's Meredith Fell's distant cousin and moved here like a few months before school let out. She's the biggest slut I've ever seen – next to you sister – and that's saying something."

"Really?" Elena asked. "Did she ever…have eyes for Damon by any chance?"

"There's a possibility considering he was a backstabbing player to every girl in school. So, did he cheat on you with her? Probably. With legs like that and those looks, I don't think she'd have any trouble in roping Damon in for a little patty cake on the playground."

"Ew," Elena muttered before crossing out some words on the paper. She noticed out of the corner of her eye as Matt Donovan approached them in his Mystic Grill uniform. "Matt!" Elena jumped out of her seat and gave him a hug. When they detached, he gave her a smile and got on his proper working demeanor.

"Can I get you guys anything?" He asked.

"I'll have a strawberry shake and some fries. Thanks, Matt," Caroline said and handed him her menu.

"And I'll get a burger, fries, and some tea." Elena did the same and bid Matt a goodbye as he went back to place in their orders. "It looks like some things never change."

"You mean Matt? Yeah, I feel bad. His mom totally screwed him over the last time she was in Mystic Falls; he and his sister both. Now he isn't going to college or working towards getting his life in place. The only thing he'll be is a busboy for the rest of his life."

"Caroline," Elena scolded. "That's not nice."

"Hey, you know it's true too," Caroline shot back. She quickly changed the subject though. "My party is tomorrow. I take it your plus one will be…"

"Hayley."

Caroline narrowed her eyes, "Who the hell's Hayley?"

"Hayley Marshall, a very good friend of mine from New Orleans," Elena said before drawing her eyes back at Damon's table. She watched as Alexa stood on the seat and reached over to grab a crayon to draw with on her paper placemat. Damon must've felt Elena's eyes on him because in an instant he was looking at her with some sort of friendly gaze. Elena blushed and looked away to see a very aggravated Caroline Forbes staring back at her.

"You know you can always just file for full custody of Alexa…if that's really what you want," Caroline said. "Instead of just staring at them from afar like a stalker."

"I am not stalking. I'm simply…just…watching them a few feet away."

"Also called stalking," Caroline chuckled and placed her chin on her hand and sipped nonchalantly on her milkshake after Matt brought over a tray with their drinks only moments ago.

Elena shook her head at her friend's classification and closed her notebook. She was done writing for the night and just wanted to eat and get a move on. As Matt brought their food to their table, Elena's phone rang, causing her to jerk out of her seat. The number on the screen showed up as her mother. Something must've been going on. Not only that, but Elena heard someone else's phone ring in that exact same moment. She whipped her head around to see Damon looking down at his phone too. _Oh, no. _

Quickly, as if Elena didn't care about starving for the night, she clicked answer and rushed out of the establishment with Caroline asking her in yells 'what's going on?', 'where the hell are you going?' and so on and so forth. The words coming out of her mother's mouth shattered Elena's little heart even more.

Grayson had a stroke.

* * *

"Daddy!" Elena screamed as she tried to get past the doctors blocking the doorway. She went ten miles over the speed limit as she drove to the hospital, and to her surprise, she didn't get caught. Her dad's body looked even more terrible than before as she saw him lying there. His face was sagging a lot and he looked to be shaking uncontrollably with his eyes closed. "He's my dad! Let me see him!" Elena yelled, trying to get the doctors and nurses off of her. It was no use. One of the doctors, a very tall and buff dark skinned man, managed to pull her into the waiting room where she was met with Katherine, Jeremy, Miranda, and – _you've got to be kidding me _– Damon and Elizabeth.

She didn't even muster up the courage to wipe her tears away as she turned back around to glance at the hallway towards her father's room. She wanted to see him. No, she _needed _to see him. He was her Dad and he deserved to have Elena by his side.

Elena felt hands grasp her shoulders and she looked back to see Jeremy standing over her. Was he taller than her before? She mustn't have taken notice when they hung out the other night because he was at least a good three inches above her height. No surprise there, though.

She pushed him off of her and hugged herself tightly after glancing back at the hallway. It took everything in her power not to run back down the corridor and see her father again.

"Well, this is certainly a bump in the road, isn't it, darling?" Elizabeth mused.

Elena gritted her teeth. _Oh, when I get my hands on you, so help me god. _

"Mom," Damon warned.

That hushed Elizabeth up real quick. Elena actually mentally thanked Damon despite the fact she still believes him to be a sadistic jackass.

"Elena, you need to sit down," Katherine told her and pulled her towards the chairs. "Dad will be fine. Giuseppe has it all under control."

Elena glared at her.

"Look, I'm going to go grab a snack. I'll bring you back something." Katherine got up from her place and disappeared within an instant. Elena bit her lip in thought as she stared at the floor.

The minutes seemed endless as they ticked by. Boredom overcame Elena and she counted the ceiling tiles one by one until she heard Katherine return with two small bags of pretzels in her hands. Greedily, Elena took them from her sister's manicured fingers and tore into the bag. She didn't have time earlier to eat because she was so worried about her father. And right now, she didn't have a clue if he today was his last day or not.

Damon's eyes were on Elena the whole time, just watching her as she obliviously sat there doing nothing but eat and count tiles on the ceilings. It reminded him of something – something that placed a smirk on his face.

* * *

_**Late Junior Year**_

Quietness filled the room as the test began. Elena didn't pay attention though because her eyes were set on Damon, who was to her right and making faces at her. She muffled a giggle and looked down at her test, the numbers not making sense. _I could really use some brain food right now, _she thought as she glanced down at her round stomach.

_So far, so good_. Elena was only two months away from giving birth to her and Damon's beautiful baby girl who they've chosen a name for. Her name was going to Alexandria. The brunette couldn't even contain her excitement as she looked back over at Damon. He was staring at the ceiling and squinting his eyes.

"Psst," Elena said through her teeth, quiet enough for nobody else to hear. She quickly wrote a note and passed it to him.

_What are you doing?_ It said. Damon shook his head and replied.

_Counting, _he wrote before handing it to her with his eyes on their teacher.

Elena raised a brow at his reply. He pointed at the tiles and Elena got the idea.

_Stop messing around. You need to pass this test in order for your grades to go up and pass eleventh grade, _Elena scolded through her words. If Damon kept slacking off he was going to fall behind on so many things. She didn't ask for an idiotic boyfriend, that's for sure.

Damon just narrowed his eyes at her once he got the slip of paper. He was about to write again when Mr. Tanner coughed awkwardly in front of the class.

"What's that in your hands, Salvatore?" Tanner asked. This caused all the students to look back at Damon; girls were giving him a sly smile and guys were rolling their eyes at his cockiness.

"A love letter," he sang in a high tone, "from yours truly." He pointed at Elena who looked completely baffled with her mouth hanging open. Damon smirked at her lovingly.

"Damon!" Elena said.

"What?"

"That's it you two…both of you have detention after school," Mr. Tanner scolded. He wrote them each their own slip in red pen onto a pink paper and looked back up at them as they restarted their tests.

Elena got the chance to sneak a glare at Damon through her brown hues and remained focused on her packet for the remainder of the period. Then, in the blink of an eye, the bell rang, signaling that the day was over and the two were now walking shoulder-to-shoulder to room 259, also known as the health classroom and also the room for troubled students.

"It's not that bad, 'Lena," Damon told her.

"How can you say that when you know perfectly well that this is why my parents have given me the cold shoulder," Elena hissed, turning around completely while clutching her books to her chest. "Ever since I got together with you my parents make me out to be Satan that contains a devil spawn in her stomach."

"Oh, stop being dramatic. You know that you hated your goody-two-shoes image. I'm only making you rough around the edges. If you really wanted to become…Satan, as you called it, then you're going to have to go an extra thirty miles before getting there," Damon said casually. They made it to detention and he opened the door for her. _What a gentleman, _Elena thought coldly with a roll of her eyes. "Don't give me that judgy little look."

"I'll give you any look that I want to give you," Elena said.

Damon sat down and made the move to put his feet up on a desk cattycornered to his, but the teacher monitoring the class didn't approve by the way she shot him a glare from behind her computer screen. He sighed and removed them, watching as Elena took a seat far away from him. He pouted at her and she stuck her tongue out at him like a five year old. Damon chuckled and noticed how Elena was biting back her own.

The room around them was painted with a white-offset color. A chalkboard was in full view in the front of the room accompanied by the teacher's desk towards the left with all the essentials. Instead of having some cliché board filled with all the stupid quote-on-quote posters on one wall, it was replaced with a large whiteboard that was marked with orange writing, saying, 'Welcome to detention. There will be NO talking, texting, or canoodling of any sort for the next two hours. Say one word and you'll get a write up.' Damon didn't seem to care.

Time seemed to tick by at an abnormally slow pace and the sounds radiating off the walls just added more irritation towards Damon's mood. A girl with bright red hair was popping her gum somewhere in the room, a kid with glasses was clicking his pen repeatedly, two teenagers began shooting spit balls at each other, and then there was Elena, who was nervously clicking her foot against the floor about a hundred times per minute.

_God, doesn't this teacher know how to speak up? _Damon thought as he looked at the heavy-ish set woman in some sort of hippie getup with short curly hair and cat eye glasses in a flaming red color. A cringe was placed on the raven haired teens face.

"Hey," a voice came from behind Damon.

He turned around and was met by a beautiful face. She had gorgeous blonde hair with two very pretty brown eyes and a heart-shaped face that was all natural. Her body was fitted in tight black jeans and a loose t-shirt with some jewelry here and there. Damon couldn't take her eyes off of her as she bit her lip in a seductive manner.

"You're Damon, right?" She asked.

"Correct."

"Oh, wow. I've heard _so _much about you. I'm Paige, by the way. Paige Fell," she mentioned and held out her hand for him to shake. He took it with a smile on his face.

"Related to Meredith?" Damon asked.

"The one and only. She's my distant cousin."

Damon watched her intently for a moment before asking, "Have I met you before? I've never seen you at any of the Founder parties."

"Founder parties are so lame. Never went to one before, never ever will," Paige said. "I'm more of the type to go for casual parties where there's unlimited alcohol and amazing music with…hot guys…and tables to dance on." Her eyes lit up as she stared into Damon's light blue eyes.

"Duly noted. And if you must know, I'm holding a party this weekend and I'd be very happy if you came," Damon mused. "Free drinks, free food, and free guys." He winked playfully.

In that moment he was so caught up in the blonde vixen that he didn't notice the tear stained cheeks of his girlfriend Elena Gilbert who looked on at their conversation from the front of the room. Her heart beat against her ribcage as the worst scenarios played in her mind. _Who the hell is this girl? _Elena was never the one to get jealous over other girls. She was used to them falling at Damon's feet, but not like this one. _And why is Damon suddenly so interested in her? _She took the pencil from in front of her and snapped it in two out of anger as one half hit Mrs. Higgs computer monitor. You could practically tell Mrs. Higgs was seething by the way her face reddened and devil horns shot out of her head. _Okay, so that's not exactly how I'd put it, _Elena thought. _But she isn't winning the 'best teacher ever' award this year. _

Before they knew it, they were allowed to leave and Elena was at least three steps ahead of the blonde and Damon. She heard Damon bid the girl goodbye and the blonde saunter off shooting a glare at Elena as she walked by. Damon caught up to her.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hi," Elena said with little to no emotion in her voice. "How's Barbie?"

Damon stopped in his tracks and gave her a ridiculous look. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm not."

"Elena, we've been over this. I only have eyes for one girl and one girl only."

"Does her name start with a 'B' and end in an 'E'?"

"Elena, it's you. You're my girl and always will be."

"Then prove it," the brunette challenged.

Damon didn't have any problem in doing so as he led her to the nearest girl's bathroom. Elena didn't crack a smile as he pulled her into the last stall and place kisses along her cheeks and neck. But then he bit down lightly on her collarbone which started mewls of pleasure to come from her mouth. Damon smirked against her lips when he kissed her again, placing his hands on her hips as she grabbed his face in a move to add more pressure.

Elena tugged on his bottom lips and met his gaze. You could tell he wanted just more than a simple make-out session which she took greedily when she grabbed his belt, unhooked it, and popped the button on his pants. Damon did the same to her, but first took off her shirt. Soon, they were both only clad in their under garments.

Damon stared at her baby belly. He was still in shock that she would have his baby in a matter of months, and it completely took him by surprise and happiness when she first broke the news to him. He kissed her stomach and Elena smiled through tears that began to unravel in her eyes.

Elena closed her eyes as he kissed away her tears that streamed down her face both filled with happiness and some sort of regret for mistaking Damon for being a possible cheater.

"You, Elena Gilbert, are my one and only. I plan on spending the rest of our lives together with only us and Alexandria," Damon smiled.

"Well," she began. "There could always be a possibly Damon Junior in the future." The way her eyes sparked caused Damon to laugh as he glanced down at their bodies.

"Um, 'Lena, I know that you're probably wanting to get on with this, but...I think we should just take this back to my place," Damon suggested.

"Damon Salvatore wanting to do it in a private place, _oh _how scandalous!" Elena laughed as she pulled her clothes back on.

He kissed her again before they exited the stalls and the bathroom altogether. He was only focused on getting Elena home and in bed with their clothes on the floor.

And maybe, just maybe, figuring out how he would come up with a party in under two days.

* * *

Giuseppe came into view in a white lab coat and clipboard with a frown on his face as Elena jumped out of her chair and towards him.

"What? What is it?" Elena asked hurriedly.

Giuseppe sighed, "I don't think you're father is going to make it 'til the end of the month."

Damon watched from where he sat as Elena fell to the floor with uncontrolled sobs escaping her lips. They all watched with tears filling their own eyes as it happened. Elena's dad was her only anchor, the one person that truly felt the need to keep her around. And now, _poof, _he was leaving her and everyone else that felt a very strong connection towards Grayson.

The girl hugging herself from the floor stopped crying the moment Jeremy came to the rescue. She placed her head in the crook of his shoulder and took him from the waiting room.

Now, Damon was left with Elizabeth. She placed a hand onto his as it was on the armrest. He pulled away.

"Damon."

"Mom, not now. I don't want to hear it," Damon chided lightly before getting up out of his seat and strolling out of the hospital with nothing but sorrow in his eyes and a few stray tears.

* * *

**_Writer's Note: Oh, gosh. This is the longest chapter so far. A little over three thousand words, which is really great. I don't know why, but I can never seem to write more than 2,500 to 3,000 words. But, hey, it's better than nothing._**

**_Anyway, if you guys are interested, I have a Tumblr (dexlena) and would honestly love to get some feedback through my ask box. Either anonymous or off anon. You reviewers seem lovely, as well as the followers/favoriters. And, you never know, I might be able to whip up some spoilers (in either GIF/graphic form) and post them to my blog to keep you guys in the suspense. _**

**_Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows! Keep them coming, it keeps me motivated!_**


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